


Lockdown

by Hester (hester4418)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Alien Virus, Episode: s02e25 Resolutions, F/M, Mysterious illness, Prompt Fic, Quarantine, no cure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 09:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14494059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: Upon returning from an alien planet, a biohazard warning prevents one ofVoyager's crew members from reentering the ship. All too soon, a medical lockdown needs to be called while everyone helps the Doctor search for clues as to the hazard's origin, and how to fight it. (competition fic for the third round of Talsi's "J/C Cutthroat Challenge", alpha group)





	Lockdown

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: _Star Trek: Voyager_ and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> Many, many, many thanks to Helen8462 for her last-minute (and beyond) beta services!

_(set sometime after "Basics" yet before "Future's End", i.e. around the beginning of season 3)_

The bar was reasonably well lit, with only a handful of tables tucked away in a darker corner. Most seats were occupied by somewhat rough-looking people, not surprising for a trading post located along a major shipping route that spanned four star systems. An elevated, circular table covered in shocking pink cloth dominated the room, surrounded by a number of patrons clutching various forms of money.

 _A gaming table_ , Janeway recognized, as she made her way toward the long bar lined with high-backed stools. The rules of the game were not immediately obvious, apparently involving both card shuffling and throwing a number of triangular dice, but the shouts of joy and disappointment were universal throughout similar establishments in any part of the galaxy.

The captain of the Federation starship _Voyager_ settled onto one of the bar stools and eyed the impressive array of variously shaped bottles lined up against the far wall. Some of their contents glowed in iridescent colors, and when the bartender uncorked one of the flasks, green vapor rose into the air. After pouring a small amount of liquid into a long-stemmed glass and setting it aside on a serving tray to be picked up by one of the waiters, the woman turned to Janeway.

"First time in these parts?"

"That's right," Janeway smiled. "What gave it away?"

"We don't get a lot of pink skins on Pelaeia," the woman replied, smoothing back her long, azure hair with her dark blue hand. "Mostly Veradans and Creshnik, with the occasional Lusican freighter stopping on their way home. Where do you hail from?"

"A planet called Earth, a long way from here." Janeway let her gaze roam over the other people in the room. Indeed, most of them were blue-skinned, but there was also a multicolored, feathery creature as well as two reddish-brown, lizard-looking individuals.

"Here for a trade?"

"Yes." She turned back to the bartender and pointed at the array of bottles. "I'd like to try something local, but I have no idea what all of that is." She'd stepped into the bar on a whim, feeling in high spirits after having concluded the third successful trade negotiation in as many days.

The woman produced a tray with a dozen small glass vials. "Smell these and tell me what you like."

Intrigued, Janeway raised the vials to her nose one after the other. The scents were diverse, ranging from flowery aromas to earthen, and even one that smelled repulsively like fish gone bad. She had no trouble deciding on a favorite though. "This one."

The bartender took one look at the pale yellow substance and nodded approvingly. "Very good choice. One Leshian Starburst, coming right up."

Shortly afterwards, Kathryn Janeway sat happily sipping her beverage, a concoction whose ingredients had come from at least four different bottles. The result was a layered drink in blue, green and yellow which, despite its alien name and coloring, had all the markings of being the best coffee liquor she'd ever tried.

"See, I told you the place was just like Quark's!"

At hearing the familiar voice, Janeway looked up. Two more 'pink skins' had just entered the bar, and she recognized Tom Paris and Harry Kim.

The pilot made a beeline for her position, with Kim trailing slightly behind. "Captain, it's good to see you! Anything you can recommend to a pair of thirsty wayfarers?" He eyed the remains of her drink.

"Try the bartender, she has a rather unusual menu. Did I just hear you referring to the Ferengi bar on Deep Space Nine?"

"The one and only," Paris nodded. "That was actually where Harry and I first met, so when I saw this place, I figured a little reminiscing was in order." He waved to the woman behind the bar to get her attention.

Janeway looked from Paris to Kim. "Why do I get the impression that there's a story worth telling?"

"It was nothing," the ensign protested a little too quickly.

Paris grinned. "Being a little naive is nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, I don't think you'd make the same mistake again."

Janeway just raised an eyebrow.

Kim sighed. "I was fresh out of the academy and hadn't gotten around much. I'd never met a Ferengi in person before."

"Ah, so he tried to sell you something," Janeway guessed. "At a very reasonable price of course. Practically a bargain..." She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "What was it? Your own personal long-range shuttle? A piece of property on the up and coming new vacationing hotspot in the Beta Quadrant? Or maybe classified information?"

"Rare crystals," Kim admitted, looking sheepish, "I should've suspected that they weren't rare at all."

She patted his arm. "If it makes you feel any better, I fell prey to a similar scheme once even though my father had warned me. I was honestly convinced that I was dealing with a decent businessman, and that all those warnings were just feeding off prejudice."

"Really?" Paris momentarily gave up trying to signal the bartender and leaned closer. "What did you buy?"

"A collapsible boat."

"A rubber dinghy?"

"No, an actual sturdy, wooden boat. Constructed in a way that allowed it to fold into a medium sized antigrav crate. I thought it was the best invention since replicated coffee." She enjoyed their surprise and confusion for another moment before adding, "Of course I should've tried it out right away, but as I said, I trusted the dealer. So, on my next shore leave, I was all 'proud owner of my own sailboat' and invited some of my crewmates for a trip on one of the local lakes."

"What happened?" Kim asked, looking like he already suspected the answer.

"The boat sank," Janeway confirmed. "But not right away. We'd almost reached the middle of the lake before we noticed any kind of problem. The waterproofed seams had begun leaking, and we had no way to repair them. We tried to head back, but then one of the seams broke completely and the boat sank within minutes. Luckily everyone made it back to shore unharmed."

"Did you get compensation from the dealer?" Paris wanted to know.

"I tried. It took a few weeks, but I eventually tracked him down. He claimed that he never said that the boat would swim for an extended period of time. He only sold it as a collapsible curiosity with no practical value." She snorted.

Paris and Kim both looked like they were trying hard to contain their mirth.

Janeway made a dismissive gesture. "Go on, you can laugh. I've learned to laugh about it myself." Both men grinned, and she smiled in return. Then she slid off her bar stool. "Here, take my seat. I need to return to the ship. We'll depart at 0900 hours tomorrow."

"We'll be there, Captain, bright and early," Paris saluted before once again trying to attract the bartender's attention.

Janeway made her way toward the exit where she almost collided with another member of her crew.

"Captain!" B'Elanna Torres exclaimed, taking a quick step aside to let another patron pass. "I'm glad I caught you."

"I was just about to return to the shuttle pad. Is everything alright?"

Torres nodded. "Oh yes, there's good news. Transporters are finally back online, so when Neelix said he'd loaded all the produce, I sent him and Kes ahead with the shuttle."

"That's excellent, Lieutenant." Janeway favored her chief engineer with a bright smile. _Voyager_ 's transporters had been offline for five days, forcing the crew to transport all personnel and trade items back and forth by shuttle. "What was the problem?"

"Residual pattern fragments in the buffer which caused a stack overflow. But since there was also a damaged bank of relays, our diagnostics came back with the wrong results." Torres quickly outlined the steps she'd taken to finally track down the problem. "Once I replaced the bank, cleared the buffer, and realigned the coils, the system finally started up again. I believe the relays may have been inadvertently damaged by the pattern flow upgrade we installed last week."

"Then we need to keep a close eye on the system to make sure there are no other collateral problems."

"Carey is already on it," Torres assured her. "He's also going over the upgrade logs to find out how the problem was introduced."

"Good work, keep me posted on his findings."

After acknowledging the order, Torres moved to join Paris and Kim while Janeway turned her attention to the many shops lining the street. Now that she didn't have to hurry to the shuttle pad, she figured she could spend another couple of minutes shopping for souvenirs before signaling _Voyager_ for a beam-out.

-==/\==-

Chakotay entered the transporter room with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Even though the planet _Voyager_ was currently orbiting wasn't the most hospitable of places, he was still looking forward to a couple hours of shore leave in the ancient city of Renshik, a place mostly shunned by the local populace who exhibited no appreciation for 'old stones' as they called it. The current settlers only cared about their flourishing trading outpost and felt no need to delve into the history of the long-extinct civilization that once called this planet their home.

Mike Ayala was already waiting, similarly garbed as Chakotay, with sturdy clothes, hiking boots, and a light-weight backpack. "Ready for the hike, boss?" he asked.

"Been looking forward to it for days," Chakotay grinned at his friend. In the early days of the Maquis, the two of them had frequently scouted out possible locations for new Maquis bases and gotten to know each other quite well in the process. He was looking forward to recapturing some of that camaraderie which recently seemed to have suffered from too many duty obligations and not enough time off.

"I just need to bring another group back and then you'll be set to go, Commander," Ensign Brooks at the transporter console interjected.

As if on cue, the comm system came to life. "Paris to _Voyager_ , we're ready for transport. Three to beam up."

"Energizing," Brooks replied, her fingers dancing over the buttons.

Three columns of shimmering light appeared on the transporter pad and slowly coalesced into human forms. Suddenly, alert klaxons started to blare, with the computer's voice sounding over them. "Warning. Biohazard detected." A moment later, Harry Kim and Tom Paris materialized fully, looking around in confusion when they became aware of the continuing alarms. The third column of light had vanished.

Chakotay hurried to Brooks' side to inspect the console readouts. "What happened?"

Simultaneously, Paris stepped down from the pad, a panicked expression on his face. "Where's B'Elanna?"

"Warning. Biohazard detected," the computer repeated helpfully. "Transport sequence aborted."

Ensign Brooks hurriedly tapped her board. "The computer apparently found something in Lieutenant Torres' matter stream that it considered dangerous, so it refused to materialize her."

"But the transporter should screen out any dangerous substances, including biohazards." Kim now joined the others at the transporter console, peering over the ensign's shoulder. "Did it send her back? Is she still on the planet?"

Paris slapped his combadge. "Paris to Torres, do you read?" There was no reply.

"It looks like the lieutenant is stuck in the pattern buffer," Brooks said, frowning. "Due to the biohazard warning, I can't materialize her."

"Can you send her back to the planet?" Chakotay asked.

"Negative, Commander. The computer won't let me release her pattern as long as the biohazard is still present."

The first officer turned to Kim. "How long do we have to get her out of the buffer?"

"In theory, she can stay there indefinitely as long as there's a stable energy supply. A few years ago, the _Enterprise-D_ recovered Captain Montgomery Scott from a ship that had crashed seventy-five years previously. He was the only survivor and had rigged the transporter's power supply to keep the buffer active, hoping that someday someone would find him."

" _The_ Montgomery Scott?" Chakotay asked, being familiar with the famous engineer's name. At Kim's nod, he mused, "I had no idea that he was no longer considered MIA."

"You probably missed the story, being busy with the Maquis and all," Kim ventured, then colored slightly and added, "Sir."

"In any case, that's good news," Chakotay said, choosing to disregard the younger man's discomfort. "It means we have time to analyze the problem and don't need to make any rash decisions." He briefly considered the best course of action and then addressed Paris and Kim. "Senior staff meeting in five minutes. Any use of the transporter system is suspended until further notice. Paris, you'll inform the Doctor. He should be in on the meeting. I'll brief the captain." As an afterthought, he added, "Seems like our hike will have to wait, Mike."

Ayala just shrugged in a _can't be helped_ sort of way.

Chakotay turned back to the transporter operator who looked increasingly unhappy. "Ensign Brooks, make sure no one touches this console but keep monitoring the pattern buffer containment. If there are any changes, alert me at once."

"Aye, Commander," she nodded. "And – I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault." He briefly pressed the woman's forearm in a reassuring gesture. "The lieutenant likely picked up a foreign bug on the planet that the computer can't identify. I'm sure that, with the Doctor's help, we'll have it sorted out in no time."

"I hope so, Sir," the ensign nodded again, then turned back to her console and engaged a security lock that would prevent any accidental use.

Tom Paris had already left, but Harry Kim was still waiting next to Chakotay. The first officer focused on the younger man. "Ensign, do you know the details of the repairs done to the transporter system?"

Kim shook his head. "Not a whole lot, Commander. I assisted with some of the preliminary diagnostics, but the bulk of the repair work was done by B'Elanna and her team. Lieutenant Carey should know more about it."

"Then have him join us in the meeting room," Chakotay decided as he turned toward the exit. "We need to make sure this isn't an aftereffect of our recent troubles."

Kim acknowledged and took the corridor to the left while Chakotay turned right. Despite his encouraging words to Ensign Brooks, he had a bad feeling about this. Transporter accidents were few and far between, but when they happened, the consequences were often disastrous and irreversible. He'd heard stories of people being stuck in the pattern buffer for days or weeks, and Captain Scott's case proved that you could even survive for years as long as power was available to keep the buffer active. But for each of those stories, there were a tenfold of other, more gruesome tales where a person had only partially materialized, had reappeared halfway inside a bulkhead or the deck plating – or worse yet, had had their atoms scattered among the stars. He could hardly imagine a worse fate.

-==/\==-

The meeting was short. Lieutenant Carey quickly explained to the assembled senior staff why he thought that the recent repairs had nothing to do with the current problem, but that he would run a full diagnostic nonetheless. Kim volunteered to coordinate between Sickbay and Engineering to find a way to rematerialize B'Elanna Torres. With no other action readily presenting itself, Janeway sent everyone on their way.

When the officers filed out of the briefing room, Janeway held Chakotay back. "How many people do we still have on the surface?" she asked, nodding toward the green and brown planet visible beyond the viewport.

He'd anticipated the question. "Seventeen."

Her clear blue eyes expressed worry, more so than she'd let show during the briefing. "I want everyone recalled immediately. Have Paris take a shuttle to pick them up. Full decontamination procedures."

"What about everyone who's been down and already returned? Do you want them examined as well?"

Janeway sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly torn. "Most of them didn't go through the transporter, so it's indeed possible that they also contracted whatever B'Elanna has and we don't know about it. But I'd rather have the Doctor working on the transporter problem than clogging up sickbay when we have no conclusive evidence that anyone else caught the same germs." She paced a few steps around the table, then leaned against one of the high-backed chairs. "How about a full sensor sweep of _Voyager_?"

Chakotay mulled over her suggestion. "With refined parameters to include potentially unknown biohazards? We might get a false alarm or two, but under the circumstances that seems like a viable solution."

"Tell Tuvok to get right on it," Janeway decided. "And if Carey or the Doctor come up with more data, he can incorporate that as well. As long as we don't know what we're dealing with, it's better to be cautious, but I don't see the need for full-blown panic yet."

"Exactly. Our priority should be getting B'Elanna out of the pattern buffer."

"Indeed."

They shared another look, both all too aware what the loss of their half-Klingon chief engineer would mean to each of them personally, and to _Voyager_ as a whole. For now though, they could only wait.

Then Janeway smiled, indicating Chakotay's attire. "I'm sorry your hike got canceled."

"Oh, there'll be other worlds, other ruins." He returned her smile. "Did you enjoy your shopping?"

"What makes you think I went shopping? I had trade negotiations to attend to."

"Kathryn, your quarters are full of souvenirs from alien worlds. I'll bet you anything that if you even had a minute of spare time, you got something." She looked away and he bit back a grin, knowing he'd hit upon the truth. "What is it this time? A painting? A sculpture? Or maybe another sword to go with that rusty old antique of yours?"

"A vase," she confessed. "I think you'll like it. It's said to have come from those ruins you and Mike were going to visit. Although judging from the amount they had, it's probably a replica. Still, I liked it as soon as I saw it."

"I'm glad you got some time off to enjoy yourself." Despite the current crisis, there was no denying that she appeared more relaxed than even just the day before. He looked forward to hearing all about her exploits eventually.

"There's just no substitute for real sun." She smiled again. "The next time we find a nice place for shore leave, how about you and I go for a picnic? Assuming, of course, that we've got B'Elanna back by then."

"I'd love to. It's been too long since I breathed some real fresh air." Chakotay pushed off from where he'd been leaning against a bulkhead. "Alright then. I'll instruct Paris."

"And I'll head down to sickbay," Janeway decided. "There are a few things about the transporters and their biohazard detection that I'd like to know more about."

-==/\==-

Janeway had expected the Doctor to be working in his office, but instead she found him talking to one of _Voyager_ 's Bolian crew members, Ensign Shallis from the biology lab. The ensign looked to be close to panic.

"I repeat, there is no indication at present that there is any danger to anyone who visited the planet," the Doctor was saying, sounding as if his patience was already wearing thin.

"But I helped Neelix and Kes!" Shallis protested. "The three of us packed up all the foodstuffs ourselves, so who knows what kind of bugs and bacteria we were exposed to! Also, after the two of them left on the shuttle, I stayed in the city for another hour before being transported back to the ship. I was on the surface much longer than Lieutenant Torres, so it's very likely that I picked up whatever she's got. And Neelix or Kes probably have it, too! What if it spreads from us to the rest of the crew, have you considered that?"

"Indeed, I have, and so far it doesn't look like anyone is experiencing any problems."

"How would it, if you won't even examine me!" The Bolian's voice was turning shrill.

Janeway advanced further into the room. "Ensign Shallis."

The blue-skinned woman jumped to her feet and snapped to attention. "Yes, Captain."

"At ease, Ensign. Are you feeling sick?"

Shallis nervously looked first at the Doctor and then back to Janeway. "N-no. I mean, I'm feeling a little queasy so I thought that maybe I got the Pelaeian bug…"

"Is that what people are calling it already?" The captain fought to keep her voice neutral.

"Well, that's is what it is, isn't it?" the ensign argued. "Some kind of pathogen from the planet. And if we've all be exposed–"

"We already have two teams working on identifying the problem," Janeway tried to calm her. "So far, nothing suggests that anyone else has contracted anything. The best thing you can do right now is to go back to your daily routine. I'm sure that your queasiness is nothing more than a slight bout of anxiety."

Shallis looked back at the Doctor who nodded vigorously. "O-okay. But if I start feeling worse–"

"You're more than welcome to report back here," the EMH finished for her.

Still looking reluctant, the woman moved toward the exit. Both Janeway and the Doctor nodded and smiled encouragingly.

As soon as doors had closed behind the ensign, the Doctor threw up his hands in a gesture of exasperation. "Pelaeian bug! No wonder half this crew is suddenly turning into hypochondriacs! She was only the latest, but I've already turned away six people with the same worries. If it weren't for Kes running interference in the mess hall and calming people down, sickbay would be overrun!"

"Are you sure that there's really nothing to worry about?" Janeway asked, voicing a concern that had been nagging at her since Chakotay first told her what had happened in the transporter room. "What if there really _is_ an alien bug loose on the ship?"

"There could be," the Doctor told her bluntly. "But even if there is, currently the only way to detect it would be to send everyone through the transporter."

"Are you sure? I'm having Tuvok run a refined sensor sweep of the whole ship, to see if the biofilters turn up any other potential dangers."

"That's a good start," the Doctor nodded. "However, the transporter's biohazard detection routine is much more refined than the general biofilters. A sweep might find something airborne, but in some cases it might not. As long as we don't have more information, there is no fail-safe way to detect an unknown alien pathogen. Now, if you all would let me get back to my work, I could identify exactly why the transporter flagged its warning, and then we could proceed from there."

Disregarding the small jibe, Janeway informed him, "I've ordered a recall of any personnel still on the planet surface, and I want them all to follow decontamination procedures as soon as they arrive back on _Voyager_. According to what you're saying, nothing should turn up, but a negative result might help to calm people's nerves."

"Anything that keeps them away from sickbay is a good thing," he groused.

"I'm sure Kes is already doing her best," she soothed. "Inform me as soon as you've analyzed the transporter logs."

"Of course, Captain. And thank you for deflecting Ensign Shallis' concerns."

Janeway shrugged. "Sometimes it takes an outsider's voice to lend credence to what you don't want to hear. I just hope we were right in telling her that there's nothing to worry about."

"So do I, Captain," the Doctor said, looking pensive as he finally moved toward his office. "So do I."

-==/\==-

A little less than two hours later, another meeting was called, this time in sickbay. When Janeway entered, her eyes were at once drawn to a piece of equipment on the main biobed, where the Doctor was just raising the diagnostic arch. Harry Kim and Joe Carey were standing off to the side. A moment later, the door opened again to admit Chakotay.

"What's that?" Janeway asked, indicating the equipment.

Kim and Carey exchanged a glance, looking like neither wanted to be the one to explain. Janeway raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"The pattern buffer," the assistant chief engineer finally said.

"We added an external power supply," Kim hastened to add. "There's no danger of B'Elanna's pattern getting lost."

Chakotay eyed the device warily. "What's it doing here?"

"My examination of the transporter logs revealed only an absence of conclusive data," the Doctor interjected while tapping the diagnostic pad on the now-closed medical arch. "So I determined that the only way to gather more intelligence was for me to examine the corpus delicti first-hand. And since my holographic nature won't permit me to go to the transporter room…"

"He asked us to bring the buffer to sickbay," Kim finished.

Janeway stepped closer. "What kind of data are you looking for?"

"Well, the computer issued a biohazard warning, but the transporter logs failed to specify what precisely triggered the alarm. If I can identify the exact nature of the hazard, we can develop a countermeasure that will allow us to eliminate the threat."

"Proceed," she nodded, trusting the Doctor's expertise.

"This will take a few minutes."

"Then let's have a status update in the meantime." The captain turned back to the group. "Commander?"

"Lieutenant Paris picked up all crew members that were still on the surface of Pelaeia. Kes is overseeing the decontamination procedures in the shuttle bay."

"Is that really necessary?" Kim asked. "I mean, the decontamination? So far, we don't even know if that biohazard is something that would make us sick. It could just be… I don't know, a plant virus. Or a stray beetle that got caught in the dematerialization."

"Until we know for certain, it's better to exercise caution," Chakotay said. "They also brought back air and water samples to be analyzed by our biology lab."

"Good," Janeway acknowledged. "Any word from Tuvok on that sensor sweep?"

"Last I heard, he had decks one through five completed and was starting on six. No alarms so far."

"Let's hope it stays that way. Lieutenant Carey, have you made any progress with the transporter itself?"

Carey nodded. "Both the level one and level two diagnostics came back negative. Level three will take some more time; Ensign Vorik is tweaking the parameters as we speak. But from all appearances this far, the system is in perfect working order."

"In the meantime, we've also worked out a way to circumvent the transporter's isolation protocol," Kim added. "So that if we need to, we should be able to rematerialize B'Elanna despite the warning. The downside is that whatever triggered the warning would be materialized with her and pose a potential risk. We're still trying to fine-tune the screen-out protocols, and hopefully the Doctor's new data will help with that."

"Good work," Janeway acknowledged. "Keep me informed of–" Her words were abruptly cut off by a series of angry beeps. Everyone turned back to the biobed and the Doctor at once.

Uncharacteristically, the EMH stayed silent as he hurried to an equipment cart and picked up a medical tricorder, immediately starting to scan the pattern buffer that was still positioned under the diagnostic arch.

"Doctor," Janeway called, her tone leaving no doubt that she wanted answers _now_.

"Lieutenant Torres' pattern is starting to degrade. I don't know why and I can't stop it." He closed his tricorder with a snap. "If she can't be rematerialized within the next couple of minutes, the degradation will have progressed to a point where pattern integrity is lost beyond recovery."

Janeway swung around. "You heard the man. Do whatever you have to do to get her out of there!"

"Aye, Captain." Kim and Carey exchanged a quick glance, then the operations officer grabbed the pattern buffer and both hurried out of sickbay.

The Doctor looked like he was about to protest, but the captain quickly cut him off. "Doctor, you'll need to set up a quarantine field where B'Elanna can be beamed into."

He moved over to a wall panel and input a series of commands. On tapping the final button, a force field surrounding the main biobed shimmered into existence. "Done."

Beside her, Janeway heard Chakotay relaying the information to Kim.

Tense minutes ensued. The Doctor busied himself by retracting the diagnostic arch and recalibrating the monitor above the bed. Janeway paced. Chakotay leaned against one of the other beds, outwardly calm, yet Janeway knew that inside, he'd be just as worried as she was. More than once he'd said that B'Elanna was like a little sister to him, and he'd do anything to keep her from harm.

Finally, the sound of the comm system broke the silence. "Kim to sickbay. We're ready."

"Energize," Janeway commanded at once.

The shimmer of the transporter effect appeared inside the force field and slowly coalesced into the shape of their half-Klingon chief engineer. The process took longer than usual, and Janeway noticed Chakotay balling his fists impatiently. She sympathized completely but forced herself to remain calm. They still needed to address the biohazard problem and she hoped that despite his aborted scans, the Doctor would be able to contribute something substantial to the investigation.

"Do you have her?" Harry Kim's voice inquired anxiously. "The readings are a little fuzzy down here."

"Not yet. Keep doing whatever it is you're doing!" Janeway took two steps and then stopped short at the edge of the force field, wishing there was _something_ she could do to help.

After what seemed like eternity, the transporter shimmer first intensified and finally vanished, leaving the solid form of B'Elanna Torres behind.

"B'Elanna!" Chakotay rushed forward, causing the force field to sizzle slightly as he stepped too close. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," the chief engineer replied, looking around in confusion. "What's going on?"

While the command duo explained, the Doctor stepped into the quarantine area and started scanning the newly rematerialized woman.

Torres impatiently waved him away. "Are you done yet? I need to get to work."

"On the contrary. You need to remain right where you are."

The Doctor's tone and facial expression were so grim that Janeway felt her gut clench. Chakotay and Torres looked equally troubled.

"What's wrong with me?" Torres asked, and it sounded much less antagonistic than before. "I feel fine."

"You may not feel the effects yet, but I predict that you will very soon." The Doctor turned to face the command team. "There are indications of DNA damage, and my scans indicate that the lieutenant's condition will get worse. Her DNA seems to be unraveling at the molecular level."

"How's that possible?" Janeway wanted to know.

"I cannot determine a definite cause at this time. It is reasonable to assume that the biohazard the computer detected has something to do with it, but I'll need to run more tests to pinpoint the culprit."

Janeway nodded solemnly. "Keep me informed. Maybe the biology lab will find something in the samples they're analyzing."

"Hopefully. But Captain–"

Janeway had been turning away, ready to leave, but looked back at the Doctor's hesitant tone. "Yes, Doctor?"

"It's also possible that Lieutenant Torres' condition has nothing to do with her stay on Pelaeia and was caused by something that already happened _before_ we got here. Because of that, I strongly advise that you inform the Pelaeian authorities. If the lieutenant's condition is contagious, we could be looking at a planetwide crisis."

Feeling sick to her stomach, Janeway barely managed to nod. "Thank you for your recommendation, Doctor. I will speak to the magistrate at once."

-==/\==-

When Janeway left sickbay, Chakotay stayed behind to say a few encouraging words to B'Elanna, and also to make sure that she wouldn't give the Doctor a hard time for keeping her confined. He knew that the half-Klingon would be going stir-crazy in no time, feeling helpless in the face of this medical crisis. If the problem had just been another transporter malfunction, she could have gone in brandishing a hyperspanner to dismantle the machine until it gave up all its secrets, but being forced to keep still and be the object of scrutiny did not sit well with her temper.

Once he felt reasonably sure that she would at least cooperate, he left sickbay and asked the computer for the captain's whereabouts. Janeway was in her ready room. When he hailed her, she replied immediately.

"How's B'Elanna?"

"Rattled, but willing to cooperate with the Doctor for now. How did the magistrate take the news?"

Her sigh was audible over the comm link. "Not well. I'll tell you about it over dinner."

He was surprised and pleased that for once she didn't have to be coaxed into having a meal at a reasonable time. "I still have a few things to attend to, so how about I meet you in your quarters in about an hour, ninety minutes at most?"

"Perfect. Janeway out."

Chakotay took the nearest turbolift and shortly afterwards stepped into one of _Voyager_ 's various labs.

Samantha Wildman looked up from a microscope. "Commander Chakotay! What brings you down here?"

He gestured to the slides she was examining. "Are these the samples from Pelaeia?"

"No, Ensign Shallis is working on those. She's back there." She gestured toward a door leading to an adjacent room.

"Thank you, Ensign." Chakotay smiled and followed her directions.

The second room was divided down the middle by a glass partition. Shallis was on the other side, sporting a protective tunic, gloves, and a respiratory mask. She was stowing a small container in a refrigeration unit and looked up when she became aware of Chakotay's presence. "Commander, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you'd already analyzed the samples from Pelaeia."

"I just finished." She gestured back to the refrigeration unit. "We have air, soil, and a few plant samples. As far as I can tell, none of them carry any pathogens."

Chakotay smiled. "That's good news then."

Shallis pulled off her mask and he saw that she looked unconvinced. "It may be something that our equipment can't detect. For all I know, I may have exposed myself to the disease just by opening the sample container."

He gestured around. "I thought your equipment was state-of-the-art."

"By Federation standards, yes. But can you vouch for any of our instruments in an alien environment?" Seeing that he was at a loss for words, she put her mask back on and retrieved a new container from an overhead shelf. "Please excuse me, Commander, I still have a lot of work to do." She brusquely turned away.

Feeling that his continued presence was unwelcome, Chakotay went back the way he had come, exchanging a few more words with Sam Wildman as he passed her. When he finally left the lab, he tried telling himself that Shallis was a born pessimist and always tended to see the worst in every situation, but a kernel of doubt remained.

Next, he turned his steps toward engineering.

-==/\==-

When Chakotay entered Kathryn Janeway's quarters an hour later, the smell of curry greeted him. Two candles illuminated the table where the food was already waiting, the wine being poured as he approached.

"Hey." He took the bottle from Kathryn's hand, set it on the table and pulled her into his arms.

"Hey yourself." She lifted her face, seeking his lips, and they kissed slowly, relishing the feeling of finally being together after a long day.

Chakotay smoothed his hands down Kathryn's body, sneaking under the loose-fitting t-shirt she'd changed into and starting to knead the muscles in her lower back. She broke their kiss and leaned her head against his shoulder, sighing in pleasure as he worked his magic.

"If I promise to feed you, would you consider also massaging my shoulders later? I seem to have developed a couple of knots again…" She rolled her head to the side and back, regarding him from half-closed eyes.

Chakotay chuckled, his hands moving higher while his head dipped down so he could trail his lips down her throat. "Seeing as dinner is already on the table, that hardly strikes me as a fair bargain."

"Oh, I'm willing to throw in another benefit or two to make it worth your while," she purred. Her hips shifted against him and Chakotay let out a low moan in reply, lightly biting the tender skin at the base of her neck.

He kissed her again and then mustered all his willpower to gently push her away, indicating the set table. "Let's eat first. I'm starving."

"Me too, actually," Kathryn admitted, taking her seat. "It feels like days since I've had breakfast and then took the shuttle down to Pelaeia."

"At least we got B'Elanna back, that's all that matters for now." Chakotay took a first bite of his food and nodded appreciatively. "So, what did the magistrate say?"

"At first he was completely unconcerned, saying that their medical facilities were well equipped to handle alien illnesses since they always got visitors from all over various star systems. Only when I explained that whatever B'Elanna picked up is messing with her DNA did he start to listen. The end result was that we're now forbidden to set foot on the planet for fear of spreading a plague, even though we don't even know if it's contagious! At least I convinced him to let us stay in orbit for another day, in case we need to scan the planet again for more data." She took a sip of her wine. "I also made him promise that he'd contact us if any unexplained cases of illness occur that might be related to B'Elanna's case. At the moment we can only hope that she's the only one affected, and that the Doctor will find a cure soon."

"When I left sickbay, he was setting up a whole series of tests to run. I don't think he'll deactivate himself until he's found _something_."

Kathryn set down her fork and regarded him pensively. "Doesn't this whole situation remind you of anything? Strange medical condition, no clear diagnosis, no obvious cure?"

"It does." Chakotay knew immediately what Kathryn was referring to, and he shared the pain that came with the thought. "This is different though. Even if it turns out that B'Elanna contracted a Pelaeian virus, it doesn't necessarily mean that she'd need to stay on the planet. And even if _that_ were the case, the situation would still be different. There are people there, a whole society." He reached across the table and entwined his fingers with hers. "She wouldn't be alone."

"I know." She sighed again but squeezed his hand. "And without 'our' virus, the two of us wouldn't be where we are today. I really can't say that I regret spending those three months on New Earth with you."

"Neither do I. And if we'd had to stay there for the rest of our lives, I'd have been a happy man."

She smiled tenderly. "I could be happy anywhere, as long as you're there with me."

He rose and came around to her side of the table, pulling her up and into his arms. "I'm here," he whispered, and that was the end of their dinner.

-==/\==-

 _B'Elanna Torres was eleven years old and the loneliest girl on the planet. At school, the other children made fun of her because she wasn't like them, with her bony forehead ridges and her short fuse for a temper. More than once, she'd been suspended for leaving a classmate with a bloodied nose. It never mattered what_ they'd _done to_ her _, how they'd taunted her and called her names, until she just couldn't take it anymore._

 _It hadn't been so bad when her father still lived with them, when her family was still complete. He'd provided some buffer against the rest of the world, but eventually it became too much for him._ She'd _become too much, and he'd decided he was better off without his moody and angry Klingon pest for a child. Ever since then, life on Kessik IV had been hell._

_So when her mother came into her room one night and announced that the two of them were moving to Qo'noS, B'Elanna felt profound relief. Finally she'd be among Klingons, where she could blend in and become one of many. She might even find some friends. And she had family on the Klingon homeworld, a grandmother and grandfather, plus a few aunts, uncles and cousins. Life suddenly looked very bright._

_Six weeks later, she finally set foot on the planet she'd yearned to visit for so long. It was late at night and very dark, so she couldn't see very much, but in her mind's eye everything looked beautiful. She fell asleep on the transport to her grandparents' house and only woke long enough to be ushered up a flight of stairs and fall into a waiting bed. For the first time in years, she didn't cry herself to sleep, and her dreams that night were full of hope._

_The following morning, she woke to unfamiliar surroundings but soon remembered where she was. After dressing quickly, she skipped down the stairs, ready to meet the family, but stopped on the last step when she heard two angry female voices and perceived her own name. Tip-toeing down the corridor, she came to a half-closed door and peeked into the room beyond._

_Her mother, Miral, was standing with her back to the door, gesticulating angrily. In front of her, an older woman sat in an ornately carved, high-backed chair._

_"Mother, I'm telling you!" Miral was saying, her voice rising. "B'Elanna may not look it, but she's really bright. She already attended grammar school on Kressik, it wouldn't be right to assign her into a class two years lower than where she was before."_

_"No one will even notice, scrawny as she is," her grandmother replied harshly. "She looks barely eight years old. And she has a lot to catch up on what that human school won't have taught her."_

_"That's why I want her to attend the Federation school. She can take extra classes in Klingon language and culture in the afternoon. They offer it especially for cases like her."_

_"A Klingon child who doesn't know her heritage and doesn't even speak her family's language!" the older woman exclaimed, her fist coming down heavily on the armrest of her chair. "By Kahless, Miral, you should have known better than to let that_ layerteS _raise her the human way!"_

_The argument continued, with both women growing increasingly agitated. As their speech got quicker and fiercer, B'Elanna could follow less and less. On Kressik, she'd been reluctant to speak Klingon, despite Miral's best attempts at teaching her. Back when she still had a father, he'd tried to explain to her about the importance of knowing one's origins, and that language was fundamental to shaping the relationship with one's own culture – or cultures, as it were. But the harsh, guttural sounds hurt her ears, and she'd never quite managed to get the pronunciation right. The only thing she always remembered were the swear words, of which there were plenty, and which Miral was known for muttering under her breath whenever she'd been slighted by one of the other colonists._

_There was a shuffling noise behind her and B'Elanna turned quickly, instinctively adopting a defensive stance. An old Klingon male with an impressive head of white, curly hair was leaning heavily on a walking cane, his hand clutching a carved targ's head._

_"_ nuqneH _!" he bellowed._

_B'Elanna shrank back. "I'm B'Elanna," she stammered in Federation standard. "B'Elanna Torres. I… live here now. Are you… are you my grandfather?"_

_"_ jlyajbe' _," he grunted and advanced toward her, angrily pounding the floor with his cane._

_Since he blocked the way, her only option was retreat, and she stumbled backwards into the room where her mother and grandmother were still arguing._

_"B'Elanna!" Miral exclaimed, looking extremely unhappy at seeing her daughter. "Quick, go back to your room. I'll come for you later."_

_B'Elanna didn't need to be told twice. As soon as the old man had entered the room and the doorway was clear, she darted through the opening and hurried up the stairs, slamming the door of her room and wishing she could lock it. Then she threw herself facedown on her bed and cried._

The bright lights of sickbay hurt her eyes when she tried to open them, and B'Elanna immediately remembered why she was here. A pained groan escaped her when she sat up, every fiber of her body feeling like it was on fire. She was extremely thirsty and debated whether she could manage the few steps to sickbay's replicator when the Doctor hurried to her side.

"You're awake! How are you feeling, Lieutenant?"

"Water," she managed, closing her eyes as another wave of pain hit her, bringing with it a bout of nausea. She heard him issue a quick command, and a second later a glass of cool liquid was pressed into her hand. Her first instinct was to down it in one gulp, but then she reconsidered and sipped slowly, hoping not to upset her stomach further.

He pressed a hypospray against her neck. "This should help against the pain."

"Thank you." Her stomach settled and her head stopped pounding, but her muscles still felt terribly sore.

"Do you remember what happened?" the Doctor asked, regarding her with concern.

"Unfortunately, yes. Do you have any news?"

He shook his head mournfully. "I'm afraid the data is still inconclusive. I performed a number of scans while you were sleeping, and I have a few more tests to run, but so far I haven't found anything to suggest a possible cure for your condition." Picking up a tricorder as he spoke, he started scanning her. "It may please you to know that a number of crew have contacted me asking how you were. Ensign Vorik in particular expressed his hope that you would make a speedy recovery and, as he put it, once again lead engineering in the brutally efficient way that he has come to appreciate."

She would have laughed if her sides weren't hurting so much. Coming from her Vulcan subordinate, the colorful description was no doubt meant as a compliment.

When the Doctor asked her to lie back, she closed her eyes and reflected on the dream she'd just had. Ultimately, the years she'd spent on Qo'noS had been even lonelier than her time on Kressik IV. She'd never imagined that her Klingon peers would ignore her even more than her human classmates had done. To them, she was inferior, her blood diluted by weaker genes. No amount of bat'leth training could make up for the fact that she was physically inferior to full-blooded Klingons, and the fact that her family ranked rather low on the unspoken hierarchy of Klingon houses didn't help matters, either. In a way, she'd been as isolated as she was now, only it hadn't been called quarantine then.

She'd escaped as soon as an opportunity presented itself, but Starfleet Academy wasn't all what the recruiter had made it out to be, either. Again, she got into trouble of her own making; again, she chose escape. She'd ended up in the Maquis simply because she'd been searching for a way to give meaning to her life, and fighting against Starfleet had been additional motivation.

Despite the hardships she'd had to endure in the following years – living in constant danger of being found out and arrested, risking her life in attacks against Federation outposts – she'd felt like she'd finally found a place where she belonged. The rag-tag group of freedom fighters had accepted her without reserve, and for the first time in her life she'd made real friends. The experience was outshone only by her life on _Voyager_ where, after a somewhat rocky start, she'd actually made a home, and earned the respect of those who previously regarded her as the enemy.

Now, she feared, that home could be permanently taken from her.

The Doctor touched her arm and she opened her eyes, his severe expression only heightening her dread. "You can tell me," she tried to sound brave. "Will I need to stay behind on Pelaeia?"

"Your condition is progressing at a much quicker rate than I anticipated. I'm afraid I may have to put you in stasis soon, to suspend the worsening damage to your DNA."

Maybe his words should have scared her, but for the moment, she was only glad that he wanted to keep her on _Voyager_. "Just tell me when," was all she said, nodding in acceptance of the inevitability of the situation.

-==/\==-

The next morning, after breakfast, Janeway's first stop was sickbay. The lights in the main room had been dimmed and B'Elanna appeared to be sleeping. The EMH barely looked up when she entered his office. "How is she, Doctor?"

"Not well," he replied, his tone as sober as she'd ever heard him. "I'm sorry to say that I've had to sedate her since one of the side-effects of her affliction appears to be worsening pain."

Janeway flinched, horrified to hear that B'Elanna was suffering. "Have you made any progress finding out what's causing her condition?"

For the first time since she entered sickbay, the Doctor looked her straight in the eye. "I'm afraid not, Captain. I requested some records from the Pelaeian medical archives to see if there might be a connection with any of the illnesses that had been documented there, but I can find no correlation."

"So, you're saying that she didn't get whatever this is on the planet?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I've merely ascertained that her illness has not been documented on Pelaeia. It's still possible that she contracted the disease from someone else on the planet, possibly even a short-term visitor like ourselves."

"Keep looking for clues," Janeway told him. "I'll contact the magistrate again and ask him to relay information on the other ships that were or still are in orbit. Maybe speaking with them will yield a new angle." She turned to leave but stopped short when her gaze once again fell on the sleeping woman beyond the glass walls of the Doctor's office. "If there's anything she wants, anything she needs..."

"I'll make sure she gets it," the Doctor replied, his voice uncharacteristically compassionate. Then he rose. "Captain, there's something else I wish to speak to you about."

"Yes, Doctor?"

He lowered his voice as if afraid someone might overhear him. "As I said before, Lieutenant Torres' DNA is being unraveled at the molecular level. In essence, every cell in her body is being split down the middle."

At the Doctor's explanation, Janeway frowned. "Could the current illness be a recurrence of the experiment the Vidiian Sulan conducted on her last year, when he separated her human and Klingon sides? Maybe the same kind of procedure was triggered somehow?"

"I thought of that as well, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The reintegration protocol I developed as a result also shows no indication of stopping the current process." He stood up straighter, and Janeway braced herself for more bad news. "Captain, what I'm trying to say is that I'm at my wits' end. And unless I can find a miracle cure soon, I may have to put Lieutenant Torres into stasis before the end of today."

Janeway's hand flew to her mouth. "Stasis?"

"It would be the last resort," he clarified. "But quite frankly, I see no other option."

Just like the evening before while talking to Chakotay, Janeway felt herself being transported back to a time when she and her first officer had been afflicted by a mysterious illness. When the Doctor hadn't been able to find a cure, they too had been put into stasis, and had remained suspended between life and death for a total of seventeen days. The prospect of condemning B'Elanna to the same fate, and potentially longer than what they'd had to endure, made the captain shiver.

"Do whatever you have to do," she whispered. "Just make sure we don't lose her."

He just nodded, looking sympathetic, and she exited sickbay without another backward glance.

-==/\==-

As soon as the captain had left, the Doctor turned back to his monitor. He'd already called up the ship's directory and now scrolled almost all the way down to the listing for deck fourteen. _Stasis chambers_ , one of the entries read. The EMH quickly perused the info about the ship's stasis facility, a standard fixture in Intrepid-class ships that provided enough room to put the whole crew in suspended animation, should the need arise.

"Preposterous," he muttered to himself. "Who would ever think of putting everyone to sleep at once! Someone would have to remain conscious to supervise ship's operations, and it sure won't be me." He closed the file and spoke more loudly. "Sickbay to Ensign Kim. Do you happen to know where we stored the stasis pods we used for Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay a few months ago? I seem to recall that we retrieved them before breaking orbit."

"That's right," Kim's voice came back. "They should be in cargo bay one."

"Please have one of them found and delivered to sickbay."

There was a slight pause as Kim digested the meaning of the chief medical officer's request. "Of course, Doctor. I'll send someone down to look right away."

"Thank you. Sickbay out."

His features grimly set, the Doctor once again dove into the ship's medical database, hoping against hope to find something he'd heretofore overlooked.

-==/\==-

_Chakotay brought up a hand to shield his eyes against the bright violet sun. All around him, people were busy setting up camp and discussing the best defense strategy for their momentary hideout._

_"Hey, Chakotay," a blonde woman called, tossing him a Bajoran phaser. "If you're not going to help, you might as well scout the perimeter."_

_Chakotay laughed, easily catching the weapon. "You know I could build a log cabin with my bare hands, Sveta," he replied. "But quite frankly, assembling a tent is beyond me. I could never figure out where all those pieces are supposed to go."_

_"If our intel proves true, we may be needing your construction skills soon enough," she replied, grinning good-naturedly. "I'm serious though. Go take a look around, make sure there's nothing in the neighborhood that could be dangerous."_

_"Aye, aye, Captain," he saluted her, and she threw a tent peg at his retreating form._

_Chakotay inhaled deeply as he scaled the small rise surrounding their make-shift camp. After three weeks of being constantly on the run in a ship too small for all the people it needed to hold, it felt good to breathe fresh air again and be able to stretch his legs._

_He'd joined Sveta's Maquis cell a little over two months ago, and his advanced tactical training had given the group the edge they'd needed to perform successful raids on several Federation outposts. Ultimately though, they'd been a little too successful. Perceiving that there was a new player on board, and rightly guessing that a certain Academy lecturer who'd recently resigned his commission might be involved, Starfleet had narrowed their focus on Sveta's cell, dispatching new resources to exclusively hunt their little group of renegades. They'd almost been caught twice, but at the last minute had managed to slip through the newly discovered Bajoran wormhole by trailing a science vessel bound for the Gamma Quadrant._

_They'd gone on for several lightyears and finally happened upon an uninhabited planet that appeared like the ideal hiding place, at least for the moment. If it really was as lonely and deserted as their ship's failing sensors claimed, they would consider setting up a permanent site, the Maquis' first base in the Gamma Quadrant._

_Chakotay carefully checked the camp's surroundings, noting strategic lookout points and possible problem areas when it came to defending themselves against outside attacks. In terms of wildlife, the only animals he saw were insects and a large black bird circling overhead, reminding him of watching the flight of eagles as a child, on his first visit to Earth. The memory brought back images of his late father, and his heart beat painfully. Even though they'd never really seen eye to eye, he had sworn to avenge his death. The tattooed black lines above his left brow, still slightly tender from their recent application, served as a visible reminder of what his new life's purpose had become._

_Suddenly a shout reached his ears, coming from the camp. A high-pitched cry followed, and then several more shouts. Chakotay hurried back, jumping over rocky outcroppings and batting aside low-hanging tree branches, running as fast as his legs would take him._

_A number of people had gathered at one end of the camp, but he couldn't see who or what was in the middle. He'd almost reached the group when Sveta appeared from nowhere and pressed an ancient-looking first-aid kit into his hands._

_"Here, take this."_

_He stopped in his tracks. "Why me?"_

_"You're Starfleet, aren't you? You're supposed to have loads of first-aid training!" She was close to tears. "Just go!"_

_So, he went, pushing his way through the throng of petrified people until finally, he could see why everyone was so upset._

_A man lay on the ground, his shirt torn, blood bubbling from a large wound in his side. His whole body was shaking, indicating that he was going into shock. Several Maquis were busy trying to stop the bleeding by pressing wads of cloth against his skin, but the material bled through faster than they could replace it. Already a crimson puddle was gathering beneath his body._

_"Let me through!" Chakotay bellowed, falling to his knees beside the young Bajoran who'd joined their cause only the week before, and who Chakotay had taken under his wing. He ripped open the first-aid kit and groaned in despair when it became clear that all of the contents were at least a decade old. Rummaging through it, he found what he hoped was a hypo of painkillers and emptied it into the man's neck. The violent seizures subsided, but the bleeding continued._

_Chakotay dumped the kit's contents onto the ground and grasped the surgical cauterizer. Knocking a few hands aside, he aimed it directly at the wound and pressed a button. Nothing happened. Shouting with disbelief, he shook the device and again tried to activate it. The result was no different than before._

_"His heart stopped!" someone cried._

_Spotting a portable defibrillator among the chaos of medical instruments, Chakotay slapped the two pads onto the man's chest and pushed yet another button. The body seized, then fell back. He tried twice more before realizing that as long as he couldn't stop the bleeding, the heart would only continue to pump more blood out through the wound._

_He frantically looked around for something, anything that might help, when a hand gently grasped his arm and held him back. Sveta's tear-stained face appeared in front of him. "He's gone," she whispered._

_Chakotay sat back on his haunches, his mind numb. Only now did he realize that his own hands were bathed in the dying man's blood, the smears already turning brown under the scorching sun._

"Replicator ration for your thoughts."

B'Elanna's voice shook Chakotay out of his reverie, and with mental effort he pushed the image of his dying comrade away and focused on her. She'd still been sleeping when he'd entered sickbay and looking at her crumpled form had triggered the painful memory. He desperately wished that he could take B'Elanna in his arms, or at least hold her hand. Instead, he could only watch from beyond the isolation force field as one of his dearest friends slowly wasted away.

"I was just remembering something."

"Tell me."

He briefly debated whether to make up a lie but then decided on the truth. "I was remembering the first time I saw a friend die."

"Oh." Her head lifted, her eyes bright with compassion. "Who was it?"

"His name was Beren Ashok, a Bajoran who joined the Maquis a little after I did." He told her the story in as little detail as possible, hoping that she wouldn't press for more info. Of course, he should've known better.

"What happened?"

"He'd climbed a tree to fasten cloth to some of the branches, hoping to create a large, shaded area. Unfortunately, the tree turned out to be home to a local predator that our scanners hadn't picked up. It was a cat of some sort, with exceptionally long claws." He indicated a length of about five centimeters. "It took a swipe at him and ripped his side open. He didn't stand a chance."

"I'm sorry," she offered.

Chakotay just nodded, not quite trusting his voice. His friend's death had haunted him for a long time, and the current situation brought old feelings back to the surface.

B'Elanna was silent for a while but finally sighed. "I'm scared," she admitted reluctantly.

He chastised himself for making her apprehensive and resolved to lighten the mood. "Stasis is actually not that bad. Not quite as comfortable as your bed, but you're guaranteed a perfectly restful sleep."

She eyed him with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. "I guess you would know. Tell me, how did you feel when you got into that pod thing?"

"Terrified," he confessed. "Since the Doctor couldn't find a cure against the virus that had befallen us, we didn't know how long we would need to remain in stasis – or if we would ever be able to get out of it again." Chakotay acutely remembered how, when the stasis pod's faceplate had been lowered to seal him inside, he'd had a flash of panic thinking that he was being buried alive. Weeks later, once he and Kathryn had fallen into their new routines on New Earth, they'd discussed the experience one night, and she'd revealed that she'd had exactly the same feeling. Therefore, they both knew exactly what B'Elanna was facing. Chakotay lowered his voice. "It's okay to be scared," he soothed, watching with concern how she suddenly gasped and then screwed up her face as a fresh wave of pain went through her. "And at least you won't feel anything."

"I feel… like a coward!" B'Elanna hissed through her teeth. "I should be… fighting. But instead, I can't do anything!" She fell back on the biobed, exhaling loudly and balling her fists.

"You need to trust us to do the fighting for you. The captain has been talking to a dozen or more ships passing through this system to find out if anyone knew of similar symptoms to yours. And you know the Doctor won't give up looking for a cure."

"He did give up on you eventually," she pointed out, looking at him again, the wave of pain apparently having passed. "And we left you behind."

He couldn't argue with that and so decided to try another route. "Your case is different. We–"

"Kim to sickbay," a new voice suddenly blared from the overhead speakers. "Medical emergency. Transporting one person from the holodeck directly to sickbay now."

The Doctor hurried over from his office as the shimmer of a transporter beam appeared on a biobed just outside the isolation force field. Chakotay moved toward the other side of the room so he wouldn't be in the way.

An alarm sounded. "Warning. Biohazard detected."

 _Not again,_ Chakotay thought, horrified. B'Elanna looked on wide-eyed, equally shocked.

The Doctor didn't break stride, his holographic hands moving over a console so fast that they were a blur. "Ensign Kim, I'm extending the isolation area to include a second biobed. If you can bypass the hazard warning like you did for Lieutenant Torres, you should be able to safely materialize the individual."

"Acknowledged," Kim's terse voice replied, and finally Ensign Shallis appeared, her face sporting a much paler blue than usual and her leg twisted at an unhealthy angle.

"Report, Ensign," Chakotay snapped as soon as the transporter beam had vanished.

Shallis' head whipped around, her ingrained sense of duty momentarily blocking out any pain she might have felt. "Sir, Lieutenant Nicoletti and I went paragliding on the holodeck. When we landed, I tripped and fell on some rocks. I think I broke my leg."

"That you did," the Doctor cut in, pressing a hypospray against the Bolian's neck. "But that will be easily fixed. Of more concern is the fact that the computer claims that you also pose a biohazard now."

Shallis paled even more, her face taking on the color of a cloudy sky. "I told you!" she shrieked, jumping from the biobed and then groaning in pain as her injured leg collapsed under her. "I told you," she repeated weakly from the floor, looking up at the Doctor from large, scared eyes. "I knew I'd been exposed, but no one believed me."

Looking grim, the Doctor didn't reply as he helped her back onto the bed and then started treating her injuries.

"You better go brief the captain," B'Elanna said, and Chakotay was surprised to find her standing next to him, only the force field between them. "And Chakotay..." she hesitated, biting her lip.

"What is it, B'Elanna?" He was worried about her, much more so than he tried to let on, but she was probably seeing right through him.

"Tell her... tell her I'm grateful for everything she's done for me. For believing in me. And you, too."

His instinctive reaction was to refuse, and to claim that she'd be speaking to the captain again herself in no time. But then he didn't, because they both knew there were no guarantees. "I'll tell her," he promised.

"Now go. I'll be okay."

With a last smile and a nod, he left, his heart heavier than it had been since his time in the Maquis.

-==/\==-

_"Daddy, what's that?"_

_"That's a cryo chamber, honey."_

_Nine-year-old Kathryn Janeway regarded the oblong metal box with a critical eye. Tubing was sticking out of it from several places, connecting the box to a wall of monitoring devices. "Cryo?"_

_"In the twenty-first century, some people who had an illness that couldn't be treated decided to have their bodies frozen. They hoped that years, maybe even centuries later when medicine was more advanced, they could be woken up and cured."_

_She wrinkled her nose. "But wouldn't all their friends be dead then?"_

_"That's right. But since they would have died from their illness soon, they figured that they'd make new friends once they got healthy again. And if they already had children, they were also looking forward to meeting their great-great-great-grand-children."_

_"That's weird!" Kathryn declared. "It'd be like jumping forward in time, but without a way back. Isn't there a rule against that?"_

_Captain Edward Janeway laughed. "Indeed there is. And people have gotten in trouble for not obeying it."_

_She pulled him along, past more of the oblong boxes with progressively less tubing and more advanced-looking monitors. "Is this also a cryo chamber?" She was pointing at the last one in the line, a sleek-looking oval tube whose transparent faceplate was raised up and allowed a view of the comfortably padded interior._

_"Not quite." Janeway indicated the small card next to the exhibit. "In a cryo chamber, people got frozen and had to be thawed out to be woken up. This, however, is a stasis pod. It is used to transport sick people when they're too far away from a specialized doctor or hospital. But instead of freezing them, they're just put into a very deep sleep. In the early days of space exploration, when it still took years to fly from one planet to the next, something very similar was used to transport astronauts. They'd go to sleep on Earth and wake up just before arrival at their destination." He watched his daughter regard the device. "We have one very similar to this one on my ship."_

_She looked up at him with morbid curiosity. "Have you ever used it?"_

_"Fortunately, no."_

_"Do people dream when they're in there?"_

Kathryn Janeway woke with a start and sat up, disoriented to find herself in darkness.

Next to her, Chakotay stirred. "Easy. You're home."

She lay back and he wrapped his body around her, burrowing his face into her neck, clearly intent on going back asleep. She, however, was wide awake now. "Last I remember, I was sitting down on the couch. I only wanted to rest for a few minutes, but I must have fallen asleep." She nudged him. "Did you carry me to bed?"

"Mhm," he murmured.

"And did you undress me?"

She felt his mouth move against her skin and imagined him smiling. "'Twas the highlight of my day."

Chuckling lightly and turning toward him, she smoothed a hand down his side and across his bare back, holding him close against her. "Any news from sickbay?"

He shifted his head back and opened his eyes, seeking hers in the pale starlight filtering in through the viewport. "B'Elanna has been put in stasis and seems stable. The Doctor is now poking and prodding Ensign Shallis, and as she seems to have a hypochondriac streak, she agrees to everything he says and even demands more."

"I'm still hoping we don't have the beginnings of an epidemic on our hands," Kathryn mused. "I met Shallis in sickbay yesterday, and even then she was convinced she was sick. At the time I thought she was just panicking, but now I'm not so sure."

"I saw her in the biology lab last night, analyzing some of the samples from Pelaeia. Maybe that's how she picked up the illness."

"I already had all the analyses double-checked. Nothing stands out. If the Doctor still can't find anything, we're back at square one." She sighed.

Chakotay's free hand started to lightly massage Kathryn's neck. "What were you dreaming about?"

"How do you know I was dreaming?"

He smiled again. "You were talking in your sleep, but I couldn't understand what you were saying. Something about your dad I think?"

She tried to recall her dream, hazy images taking shape in her mind. "The day he took me to the Space Exploration Museum on Mars. It was the first time I saw an old cryo chamber, and also a stasis pod. I remember that I asked him whether people had dreams while they were in stasis."

"What did he say?"

"He said he didn't know, because fortunately the pod on his ship had never been used." She buried closer into his arms. "It's too bad that I can't tell him anymore that no, you don't dream in stasis."

"You didn't dream?"

"No, I don't think so. Did you?"

"I'm not sure, actually." He played his hand up and down her back, tracing invisible patterns on her skin. "When I woke up, I felt like I hadn't been completely unconscious. But whether it was a dream, or the presence of my spirit guide, or something else entirely, I don't know."

"Why don't you just ask her?"

"Who?"

"Your spirit guide."

He chuckled. "You know it doesn't work like that."

In lieu of a reply, she started kissing her way along his jawline to his neck, the soft press of her fingertips marking the path she intended to take down his body. He relaxed into her ministrations, but his appreciative moan was rudely interrupted by a chirp from the comm system.

"Sickbay to Captain Janeway. Respond, please."

Kathryn lifted her head, concern for her crew driving all other thoughts from her mind. "Janeway here."

"Captain, I apologize for the late hour, but I need you to come to sickbay immediately." The Doctor's voice carried an unmistakable note of urgency.

Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged one look and simultaneously rolled out of bed. "See you in five minutes, Doctor. Janeway out."

-==/\==-

"This is a comparison of Lieutenant Torres' and Ensign Shallis' DNA," the Doctor pointed to two side-by-side images on the wall monitor in sickbay's main area. "As you can see, the ensign's DNA is also breaking up, but at a much slower rate than the lieutenant's."

"Do you have a hypothesis yet as to why that is the case?" Chakotay asked, surreptitiously running a hand through his hair behind the Doctor's back, hoping he didn't look too disheveled. Kathryn somehow managed to look immaculately coiffed, even though she'd only quickly pinned up her hair while they'd been waiting for the turbolift. If the EMH wondered why the command duo had appeared together, he had the grace not to comment.

"I finally managed to determine that the pathogen responsible for our people's condition is indeed a virus, albeit of a variety I've never seen before. I could also identify one key factor in how it chooses its victims." He turned, a mournful expression on his face. "This virus appears to be only targeting hybrid individuals, attaching itself to the 'seams' in their DNA, so to speak. Additionally, in Lieutenant Torres' case, it seems to have been aided by the fact that barely a year ago, the different components of her DNA were separated and later reintegrated. The bonds holding them together are not as strong as they were before."

Confused, Chakotay pointed out, "I can see how this would hold true for B'Elanna, but what about Ensign Shallis? She's 'just' Bolian, isn't she?"

"That's what her Starfleet record says, but apparently she had an Andorian great-great-grandmother. The Andorian genes are recessive, so physiologically, she appears purely Bolian. Yet for the virus, even this small percentage of alien genes seems to provide enough of a target."

Janeway made the connection quicker than Chakotay did. "But that would mean that all the other hybrids aboard are potentially at risk! How many are there?"

"Apart from Torres and Shallis, six officers that I know of." The Doctor paused, clearly upset. "And… Naomi Wildman."

Chakotay groaned in shock just as he heard Janeway inhale sharply. _Voyager_ 's youngest inhabitant was only a few months old, beloved and cherished by all. To have anything happen to the baby would be devastating.

The captain slapped her combadge and started issuing orders in rapid succession. "Janeway to the bridge. Break orbit immediately and find a spot at least five hundred thousand kilometers distant from any inhabited planet and any of the known shipping routes. Once we arrive there, come to a full stop." She barely waited for the night-shift helmsman to acknowledge before she closed the channel and opened another. "All hands, this is the captain speaking. Effective immediately, _Voyager_ is under complete medical lockdown. Everyone not on duty will return to their quarters and remain there until further notice. Janeway out." She briefly passed a hand over her eyes and then looked up at the Doctor. "You will need to examine everyone who's of mixed-species origin as soon as possible. Should we ask them to come to sickbay?"

He shook his head. "Quite frankly, I'd rather not risk it. This virus is so unlike any other that I can't be entirely certain that Ensign Shallis didn't contaminate this room when I treated her yesterday."

"How about the holodeck?" Chakotay suggested. "We can transfer you there so you can examine everyone, and there's enough room for privacy."

"Excellent idea, Commander, please see to it at once," Janeway ordered. "And then we'll–"

The door to sickbay opened, admitting a confused and sleepy-looking Neelix. "What's going on?" the Talaxian asked. " _Voyager_ is under medical lockdown – does that mean we'll all end up the way Lieutenant Torres did?" He threw a shy look toward the back of the room, where the stasis pod containing B'Elanna's body was hidden behind a privacy screen.

While Chakotay quickly explained the situation, the Doctor reflexively grabbed a medical tricorder and scanned the resident chef and morale officer. "Neelix," he called out, "are Talaxians the only humanoid species native to Talax?"

"Why, yes," Neelix replied, turning toward the EMH. "Although we did occasionally mingle with the Myleans from the next planet over. In fact, my great-grandfather was Mylean."

Janeway stepped closer to the Doctor, concern written all over her face. "Is he…?"

"Yes," the Doctor replied grimly. "Now that I have a way of detecting the pathogen, I can tell that Mister Neelix is indeed carrying the virus in his body, although for the moment it appears to be inert."

"I'm what?" Neelix' voice was at least an octave higher than usual, and he sat down heavily on the nearest biobed.

Janeway took charge. "Doctor, sickbay is now off-limits. Anyone feeling sick will have to make do with a house-call from Kes. Commander, proceed with preparing the holodeck as we discussed."

Chakotay nodded. "Aye, Captain. I'll have Lieutenant Paris give me a hand and we'll contact sickbay as soon as we're ready to have the Doctor's program transferred."

She acknowledged him with a quick nod and then turned back toward the Doctor and his latest patient. As Chakotay strode out of the room, the last he heard was Neelix' anxious enquiry about whether or not his beloved Kes could potentially be at risk as well.

-==/\==-

Preparing the holodeck was quick work. Barely half an hour after Chakotay had left sickbay, the Doctor winked into existence and immediately inspected the treatment area that had been set up.

"We included all the equipment that you have in sickbay," Tom Paris explained his and Chakotay's handiwork. "All the monitors are tied into the ship's data network, and there's a small lab beyond that door. If you need anything else, it's just a command away."

The Doctor looked closely at several panels and then nodded. "The equipment does indeed appear adequate. Have my patients arrived yet?"

"We set up living quarters over there," Chakotay pointed to a set of transparent double doors beyond which lay a corridor leading to individual rooms. "Everyone except the Wildmans are here already. They've all been transported directly from their quarters. Samantha said she'd only be a minute."

"Excellent. I'll want to see her and Naomi as soon as they arrive." He turned away, busying himself with rearranging the contents of an instrument cart.

"Doctor," Paris called out hesitantly. "Are you absolutely certain that the virus targets only hybrids?"

The EMH threw him a sharp look. "Are you feeling ill, Lieutenant?"

"No, no," Paris was quick to assure him. "I'm just… worried, that's all."

Brandishing a tricorder, the Doctor quickly scanned the pilot. "You're healthy as ever. Now can I get back to work?"

"Sure."

"Doctor," Chakotay cut in, hoping to diffuse the sudden tension. "What about Neelix and Ensign Shallis? Should we transfer them here as well? They might be more comfortable."

"Not yet, Commander. I'd like to examine the others first, to be able to judge how widespread the problem is. Then we can consider combining the quarantine areas."

"Transporter room to holodeck two," Ensign Brooks' voice came over the comm. "I have Ensign Wildman and Naomi Wildman standing by for transport to your location on your command."

"Energize," the Doctor replied immediately, and a second later Sam Wildman appeared in front of the men, baby Naomi in her arms and a duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

The young mother looked very worried. "Is it true that there's a biological weapon aboard? And it's specifically targeting hybrid individuals?" She instinctively hugged her little girl closer to her chest.

"You're here to help us answer that question." His demeanor much more gentle than usual, the Doctor ushered her over to a biobed.

Chakotay smiled inwardly. Despite the fact that he was made up of photons and force fields, the EMH definitely had a soft spot for _Voyager_ 's youngest resident and her mother.

"You may go back to your other duties now," the Doctor was saying over his shoulder, his acerbic tone back, despite the fact that his main attention remained focused on the baby. "I will let you know if I require anything else."

"Certainly, Doctor," Chakotay replied, choosing to ignore the physician's tone and signaling Paris to follow him out of the holodeck. Once the large doors had closed behind them, he turned to the younger man. "Report to sickbay, see if you can help Kes in any way."

Paris nodded but hesitated, finally saying, "Do you think they'll be okay?"

Chakotay clapped him on the arm, trying to convey more certainty than he felt. "If anyone can cure this virus, it'll be the Doctor."

"Should we maybe keep a lookout for the Vidiians? Just in case?" The unspoken fact was, of course, that the Doctor's abilities had been outmatched once before, and all of _Voyager_ had paid the price when two of their own had had to be left behind.

The first officer had to acknowledge that maybe Paris' suggestion was sound. "I'll speak to the captain about it," he promised. "But we'll have to believe everything's going to be alright."

The pilot nodded again, more firmly this time. "I'll keep that in mind." Then he turned and strode down the corridor, leaving Chakotay to his own hopes and doubts.

-==/\==-

The darkened room, usually the place for brainstorming and exchanging of ideas, lay silent. A lone figure stood by the viewport, arms wrapped around her body, a cooling cup of coffee sitting on the table behind her. The stars beyond the viewport shone cold and distant, with none of the comforting twinkle caused by a planetary atmosphere.

"The middle of nowhere," Kathryn Janeway breathed, as much to herself as to the man who'd just entered the room, easily distinguishable by his soft footfalls as he crossed the space to stand behind her.

Chakotay's arms slid around her waist, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder. "How long do you intend for _Voyager_ to remain here?"

"As long as necessary," she stated decisively. "None of the captains I spoke with had ever heard of a comparable illness, so I'm inclined to think that it's something we brought with us, something that could potentially put this whole sector at risk. I've had Tuvok activate the quarantine beacons so every ship that comes near us will be warned away."

"How long do you think we'll be able to sustain life aboard without the opportunity to restock?"

"A couple of weeks, hopefully. As long as we're not going anywhere, we can reroute energy from the engines to the replicators in case our supply of fresh foods runs out. But yes, it worries me," she acknowledged. "I'd rather keep going, pushing forward, but I don't want to risk spreading a plague."

"None of us want that."

He fell silent and Kathryn leaned back into him, grateful for his presence and the comfort he offered. It had only been a few months since she'd finally allowed herself the luxury of accepting his love and loving him back, and of acknowledging what they'd come to mean to each other during their exile on New Earth. Since then, they'd grown incredibly close, and had found a way to balance their professional duties and their personal needs without declaring any strict boundaries. It worked well, so well in fact that she no longer worried about the crew finding out about them. Chakotay grounded her in a way she'd never experienced with a partner before, and she'd told him just the other day that she felt she'd found the true meaning of peace with him. There'd been tears in his eyes as he recognized how she'd echoed his own words, and the night that followed had been the most passionate and memorable of their relationship so far.

She turned in his arms and kissed him lightly. "They'll be here soon."

When the senior staff filed into the room a few minutes later, the captain and first officer were sitting side by side, nursing fresh cups of coffee and tea respectively.

The last person to slip into the room was Kes. "The Doctor wants me here," she replied to Janeway's questioning look. "He'll explain."

Harry Kim switched on the wall monitor and established a link to the holodeck. When the Doctor's face appeared, Janeway's heart sank. A deep frown seemed to be perpetually etched on the physician's forehead now, and his usual air of superiority had all but vanished. Apparently this medical crisis was getting to him as well. She could only guess how the fact that his abilities proved insufficient not once, but twice in the past few months would affect his ego.

The captain suppressed a yawn. "I know it's late – or rather early – but I want us to consolidate our knowledge and formulate a plan before we see about getting some rest. You're all aware of the seriousness of our situation, so please, Doctor, what's the latest news from your patients?"

"I just checked on Ensign Shallis and Mister Neelix, and both appear stable for the moment, if very anxious. They are keeping each other entertained with colorful stories about various calamities that befell some of their family members." The Doctor looked slightly annoyed but shrugged as if to say, _whatever tickles your fancy_.

"What about the others?"

"None of the other hybrid officers appear to carry the virus."

A collective sigh of relief swept the room, but Janeway noticed that the Doctor's features remained grimly set. A chill ran down her spine and she felt for Chakotay's hand under the table, grasping it tightly. He squeezed back reassuringly, but she still had to force herself to get the next words out. "What about Naomi?"

"Naomi Wildman is also unaffected." The Doctor took a deep breath, looking unhappy. "But her mother is not."

Relief and shock warred for dominance in Janeway's mind and for a moment, she couldn't find the words to reply.

Tom Paris beat her to it. "But you repeatedly said that the virus only targets hybrids! So how could it harm Sam?"

"Whether or not she will actually fall ill still remains to be seen," the EMH clarified. "For now, I have merely confirmed that she is a carrier. During pregnancy, fetal cells migrate from the child into the mother's bloodstream. They aren't numerous, but my examinations show that those Ktarian/Human hybrid cells have been targeted by the virus. What happens once they've all been destroyed is anyone's guess."

"Can't you clean her blood somehow, and filter out the affected cells?" Paris asked. "I remember once reading about some sort of blood purification that was used to treat people with kidney failure back in the 20th century on Earth. Wouldn't that be an option?"

"I'm already looking into that," the Doctor told him but then went back to directly addressing the captain. "However, we may have a more severe problem on our hands than I first realized."

Janeway mentally prepared herself for the worst. "Just say it, Doctor."

"Ensign Wildman's case shows that even small remnants of alien DNA in an individual's body provide a target for this virus. That means that anyone who's ever contracted an illness native to another planet or species is potentially at risk, as alien antibodies or cellular fragments may remain behind even after the disease has been cured."

Chakotay, who had this far remained silent, suddenly stirred. "You're referring to us," he said, pointing to himself and the woman at his side. "In our case, both the virus and the cure were alien to our systems."

"I had the Rigelian flu when I was ten," Harry Kim added. "Does that mean I'm at risk, too?"

The Doctor nodded grimly. "I'm afraid you are. That's why I sent Kes, so she could scan you all right away."

The petite Ocampa looked to Janeway for permission.

The captain let go of Chakotay's hand and nodded, simultaneously getting to her feet. "Start with me."

One by one, Kes ran her tricorder over the members of the senior staff. New sighs of relief were heard when first Janeway, then Chakotay and Tuvok were declared free of the virus. Joe Carey, who was filling in for Torres at the meeting, fidgeted in his chair and closed his eyes when his turn came, but he was also given a clean bill of health. Finally, only Kim and Paris were left.

The pilot held up his hands. "The Doctor examined me himself earlier, so I'm good."

Kes nodded. "I know, he already told me." She turned toward Kim. "Your turn then."

"Go ahead," Kim acquiesced. He visibly held his breath when the Ocampa passed the scanner over his head and chest and tried to get a look at the tiny screen. "Well?"

She looked up, and her sad blue eyes said it all.

Kim fell back into his chair, looking defeated. A moment later though, he sat up again. "Given what the Doctor just told us, I can understand that I caught the virus. B'Elanna, too, and also Neelix and Ensign Shallis. All of us visited Pelaeia in some fashion. But what about Sam Wildman? I was talking to her the day before yesterday, and she said she wasn't planning on going down to the planet surface. So how did she get it?"

"That's a very interesting question, Ensign, and one that I've been trying to verify myself," the Doctor spoke up again. "According to Miss Wildman, she had the day off yesterday and spent most of her time on the holodeck with her daughter. She also had no contact with any of my other patients in the timeframe since we arrived at Pelaeia. Furthermore, I was able to determine that the virus cannot be passed on from one individual to the other, and it appears to have no airborne properties."

Stumped silence filled the room until Joe Carey held up a hand. With a nod, Janeway indicated for him to speak.

"What about the transporter?"

Chakotay frowned. "You said you and Vorik checked it inside and out and found nothing. What are you referring to?"

"I mean, could the transporter be making them sick somehow?" Carey clarified. "I know it sounds wild, but Lieutenant Torres was the first person to use it after we'd repaired and tested it. She beamed down to the planet, and later back up again. What if, I don't know, the virus got stuck in the buffer somehow and was passed on to the people who were transported later?"

"Harry and I had taken the shuttle with Neelix, but also came back through the transporter," Paris added, indicating himself and his friend. "Shallis was with us on the way down."

"And Sam Wildman was transported from her quarters to the quarantine section on the holodeck," Chakotay added, looking excited. "I think we may be onto something here."

"What about Neelix though?" Kes objected. "The two of us returned on the shuttle, with all the trade items. I don't think he's used the transporter since our last shore leave a few weeks ago."

"Also, there was no biohazard warning when Ensign Kim or Ensign Wildman were transported," Janeway reminded them. "And so far that seems to be the most fail-safe way of detecting the virus. Didn't you say so, Doctor?"

"That was my initial hypothesis, yes," The EMH replied. "However, whether it still holds true in light of the new discoveries, I cannot say at present."

Tuvok finally spoke up. "I recently completed a sensor sweep of the entire ship. There were no further biohazard warnings."

Carey sank back into his chair, looking defeated. "We're all going to die here," he muttered.

Janeway had to admit that the outlook appeared bleak, but she refused to give up just yet. "I think we all need to get some rest," she stated, earning an approving nod from Chakotay. "Let's reconvene in six hours." She looked around the table, letting her gaze linger on each person in turn. "Then we'll look for more clues, more connections between Sam and the others. Right now, I think we're all too tired to pay the necessary attention."

"I concur, Captain," the Doctor also voiced his approval. "In the meantime, I will have the computer analyze Ensign Wildman's whereabouts over the past two days. Maybe it will find a connection while you're all resting."

"Thank you, Doctor," Janeway nodded. Once again, she looked around the table, stopping with Harry Kim.

The ensign's shoulders dropped resignedly as he anticipated her words. "I'll confine myself to the holodeck until further notice."

"Thank you." At this point, she wasn't actually sure it mattered, but she felt better knowing that Harry would also be under the EMH's close supervision. "Meeting adjourned."

-==/\==-

Chakotay slept badly that night, repeatedly waking from dreams that he could not remember but that left him shivering with dread. The one thing that calmed him was Kathryn's warm and solid presence, the way she rolled over in her sleep and buried against him, her even breaths tickling his neck. The third time he woke up, he propped himself up on one elbow and just watched while she slept, totally relaxed, her long hair fanning out over her pillow.

She shifted, unconsciously reaching for him, and then blinked sleepily. When she became aware of him watching her, her eyes opened fully. "What time is it?"

"Still too early to get up. Go back to sleep."

"Why are you awake then?" She cupped his cheek, her thumb lightly rubbing his skin.

He turned his head to kiss her palm. "Apparently my subconscious is still too busy worrying. I'm glad you got some rest though."

She smiled tenderly. "I seem to sleep better when you're with me, even during a crisis."

Chakotay slipped his arm under Kathryn's neck and pulled her close, pillowing her head on his shoulder as he lay back. "So you're not mad at me for not allowing you to nap at your desk or on your couch any longer?"

"Rest assured, that's definitely one thing I don't miss." She chuckled, playing with the buttons on his pajama shirt. After a pause, she added, "I should probably get up and contact the Doctor, see if he's found anything new."

"In a minute. There's something I need to talk to you about first."

She tilted her head to catch his eye. "Not more bad news I hope."

He met her gaze with a pensive one of his own. "I'm not sure how you'll see it, but it was Paris' idea and I promised to run it by you."

"I'm listening."

"He suggested that we keep a look-out for the Vidiians, just in case."

"Absolutely not." Her reply was sharp and instantaneous, and he felt her whole body tensing up.

"Kathryn–"

"I said, no." She extricated herself from his arms and threw back the covers, then sat on the side of the bed, her back to him.

He saw her shoulders rise and fall as she took deep breaths. He hadn't expected her to be so upset and struggled to find the right words to keep her from shutting him out completely. "I'm not thrilled by the prospect either, but look at it this way: They took the risk for us. Shouldn't we return the favor?"

" _Voyager_ was ambushed and they could all have ended up at an organ processing facility! It was an unnecessary and completely illogical risk!" She was, of course, referring to the fact that it had been Tuvok who'd ultimately given the order to contact the Vidiians and ask for their help in finding a cure against the New Earth virus. "I'm not going to put this crew in that kind of danger again."

"From what I've heard, Tuvok didn't have much of a choice," Chakotay pointed out. "And this time, there are more than just two people affected. I think you should at least consider the possibility, in case all our other investigations prove useless."

"I'm the Captain!" Kathryn insisted. "They will obey my orders!"

Chakotay rolled over to her side of the bed and sat up behind her. The mere fact she was still sitting down and hadn't started pacing told him that despite her harsh words, she was not as firmly convinced as she was trying to make him believe. "There's no need to decide just yet," he soothed. "I'm just asking you to keep an open mind."

She turned to face him, her eyes wide and scared. With a start he realized that the mere thought of the Vidiians terrified her. Personally, he found them less than sociable and would gladly have avenged the death of Lieutenant Pete Durst, but the example of Danara Pel proved that even a species as universally feared as the Vidiians produced some honorable individuals.

He attempted to hug her, hoping to convince her to lie back down and postpone making a definite decision. "You should sleep some more."

"I can't." Kathryn shook off his arms and rose, then pulled off her nightgown and started putting on her uniform.

Chakotay stayed where he was, sensing that this time, she didn't want him to accompany her.

"I'll be in sickbay," she said, only briefly looking back at him.

He nodded. "I'll see you later."

Once she'd left, he slipped back under the covers, suddenly more tired than he could remember feeling in a very long time.

-==/\==-

Janeway's stop in sickbay was only brief. Ensign Shallis and Neelix both appeared to be sleeping, the screens above their beds showing that their vital signs were being closely monitored. Even Kes had curled up on one of the spare biobeds, a tricorder within easy reach, and was getting some rest. Rather than wake the Ocampa, the captain turned her steps toward the holodeck.

She found the Doctor and Harry Kim in a newly added room off the main treatment area. They were standing around a holographic projection of _Voyager_ in orbit of Pelaeia, with many colored dots and lines crisscrossing the image.

Intrigued, Janeway stepped closer. "Good morning, gentlemen. What's this?"

Kim turned tired eyes on her, and she got the impression that despite her orders, he hadn't slept at all. Still, she didn't have the heart to chastise him, seeing as he'd obviously put his time to good use. "These are the movement profiles of everyone who's been diagnosed with the virus, from the time we arrived at Pelaeia," the ensign explained. "We're trying to find a pattern, something they all have in common." He sighed heavily. "So far though, there's nothing."

She studied the display. There were five different colors, representing Torres, Shallis, Neelix, Sam Wildman, and Kim. Color-coded portraits helped identify each individual. It was immediately obvious that Wildman was the only one who'd not left the ship within the respective timeframe. Her and Ensign Shallis' lines coincided in the biology lab, their primary place of work. Torres had divided her time mainly between engineering and the transporter room, with the occasional stop at the bridge. Kim's color was clustered heavily on the bridge, but also showed forays to the transporter room and the holodeck. They all had visited the mess hall repeatedly, where Neelix seemed to have almost taken up permanent residence.

"What does that symbol mean?" Janeway asked, pointing to several indicators looking like starbursts, each labeled with a small number.

"Those are transport sequences," Kim explained. "For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that the transporter does play a role in all of this, apart from being the first to detect the virus. But I can't put my finger on it…"

"In the meantime, I performed further tests on all of my patients' blood samples," the Doctor chimed in. "And while I can confirm that they all contracted the same type of virus, I've also found some significant differences." He called up additional data on an auxiliary screen. "Do you see what I mean, Captain?"

Janeway squinted at the images. To her, they all looked roughly the same. "I'm afraid you'll have to enlighten me, Doctor."

The EMH took on a lecturing pose and pointed to the first image. "This is Lieutenant Torres' sample. Her condition is the most advanced, with the virus actively attacking her DNA and splicing it at an alarming speed."

Janeway winced at the mental image but nodded for the Doctor to proceed.

"This," he pointed to a different image, "is Ensign Shallis' sample. On a microscopic scale, her condition is very much comparable to the lieutenant's. However, due to her heritage being predominantly Bolian, the effects are far less severe. I would even go so far as to say that she is in no imminent danger."

"That's a relief." Janeway exhaled a breath, grateful for the small bit of good news. "What about the other three?"

"If we regard Lieutenant Torres and Ensign Shallis as 'group A', then Ensigns Kim and Wildman would be 'group B'," the Doctor continued his explanation. "The virus has attached itself to the alien remnants in their bloodstreams but does not attack their bodies as such. In fact, contrary to what I presumed at first, it does not even break up the foreign cells."

She swiveled to face the other man. "Harry, is that true? You're not feeling any effects of the disease?"

"No, Captain," Kim confirmed. "Other than being tired, I feel perfectly fine."

Janeway turned back to the screen, pointing at the fifth image. "What about Neelix?"

"His case is the most curious of all. Despite the fact that his DNA contains twice as much non-primary species parts as Ensign Shallis', the virus in his body remains completely inert. The viral cells are floating freely in his bloodstream, not even attaching themselves to any of his own cells."

"So we have three different manifestations of what is essentially the same virus," Janeway mused, her scientific curiosity piqued. "Could it have mutated?"

"That's a possibility I considered," the Doctor confirmed. "But for a mutation to occur so linearly that the resulting cases can still be grouped together – never mind the fact that we're dealing with an extremely small sample size here – there would have to be a specific trigger, something that remains the same in all cases."

"The transporter!" Kim exclaimed.

Janeway and the Doctor turned, finding the ensign pointing at the holographic display, his hand shaking with excitement. "Explain," the captain demanded.

"Computer, remove all movement profiles except for the transport sequences." Most of the colorful dots and lines vanished, leaving only the starburst symbols and their connections behind. "Look at this: For the first three days of our stay in orbit of Pelaeia, the transporter was still offline, so Neelix used the shuttle exclusively to go back and forth. Consequently, he's not listed any longer." Kim waited for the other two to nod before continuing his explication. "I used the transporter coming back from Pelaeia, shortly after it had been repaired. Sam didn't go down to the planet surface but was transported from her quarters to the holodeck with Naomi, as part of our quarantine procedures. So that's one transport for each of us."

"Lieutenant Carey said that B'Elanna was the first person to use the transporter after it had been repaired," Janeway remembered, catching on to the ensign's excitement. "She went to Pelaeia, where I ran into her. And she also used it to return to the ship, at which point the biohazard warning prevented her rematerialization."

"The same is true for Ensign Shallis," the Doctor chimed in. "She said she'd taken the shuttle with Neelix and Kes to get to the planet but returned by transporter later. The next day, she broke her leg on the holodeck–"

"–and I tried to perform an emergency beam-out to sickbay, which triggered another biohazard warning," Kim finished for him.

"Could that be it?" Janeway asked, barely able to contain her own excitement. "One transport triggers a first mutation, which sort of wakes up the virus and makes it aware of the alien fragments of DNA surrounding it. The second transport causes it to mutate again, rendering it aggressive."

The Doctor suddenly turned and hurried out of the room. Janeway and Kim exchanged a perplexed look and then followed. The main treatment area was empty, but the EMH quickly emerged from the lab, a small stasis container in his hands.

"Here," he said, thrusting the box at Kim. "These are more blood samples from Neelix, Ensign Wildman, and yourself. Can you run them through the transporter to confirm our hypothesis?"

"I'll get right on it."

While the ensign instructed the computer to provide him with an access panel, Janeway turned back to the Doctor. "Let's assume we're right – what's the next step then?"

"Once we've verified the cause for the mutation, I should be able to create a counteragent that will return the virus to its original, inert state. From there I will proceed to develop an antidote that will at the very least prevent it from attacking again, and at best eliminate it from everyone's systems."

"That's the best plan I've heard all day, Doctor." Janeway couldn't help smiling broadly. After all the helplessness of the past two days, it appeared they were finally on the right track. Then another thought occurred to her and she quickly sobered, frowning deeply. "If our hypothesis does prove correct, it also means that the virus was present on _Voyager_ even before we came to Pelaeia. But then how did it get aboard in the first place? And how did they get exposed to it?"

The Doctor shrugged, looking as clueless as she felt. "I'm afraid that remains a mystery for now."

-==/\==-

Chakotay had just cleared away the remains of his breakfast when Kathryn returned. She came straight to him and, without a word, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. He was too stunned to do anything other than reciprocate, but when she finally drew back and smiled at him, he voiced his surprise. "Not that I mind but… what was that for?"

Her smile deepened. "For standing up to me. For showing me alternatives even when I'm too set in my convictions to want to see them. And most of all, for not giving up on me when I was pushing you away." She squeezed his middle. "I love you, Chakotay."

"I love you, too." He reached up a hand to stroke her cheek. "What happened to put you in such a good mood? Did the Doctor finally make a breakthrough?"

She told him what she, Kim, and the Doctor had worked out on the holodeck, and how Kim had tested their hypothesis by running blood samples through the transporter. "And it all checks out!" she reported excitedly. "The mutations happened just like we predicted, every time."

Her enthusiasm was catching, and Chakotay found himself smiling broadly as well. "That's great. I take it that the Doctor can use all that new data to find a cure?"

"He's confident that he'll be able to neutralize the virus, if not eradicate it completely."

"So, B'Elanna will be okay?"

"Yes."

A considerable weight lifted from his chest, making him feel like he could suddenly breathe much more freely than before. Kathryn stroked his face, and he realized that she was wiping away a few stray tears that had escaped from his eyes. He hugged her again tightly, burying his face in her hair and breathing in her scent, his heart hammering with relief.

"Hey." She was running her hand through his hair in soothing strokes until he drew back enough to meet her eyes again. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Don't be," he told her. "We don't have to agree all the time."

"I still shouldn't have left the way I did."

"The important thing is that you came back." They hugged again, once again finding strength in each other and reaffirming their commitment.

Then Kathryn drew back. "I need to speak with Tuvok. The Doctor mentioned he was going to suggest another sensor sweep, and I'm curious if there's any news on that yet."

Chakotay released her and picked up his uniform jacket from the couch, shrugging it on while she placed the call.

"Captain," the Vulcan's stoic voice sounded over the comm. "I was just about to contact you."

"What about?"

"I am currently on my way to deck fourteen. If you would meet me there, the explanation would be a lot more expedient."

Janeway raised an eyebrow, mouthing, _What's he up to now?_ at Chakotay. He shrugged, indicating that he was ready to leave. She nodded and spoke once more, "Commander Chakotay and I will join you in just a minute."

The reply was as short and succinct as they expected. "Excellent, Captain. Tuvok out."

-==/\==-

Once Janeway and Chakotay arrived on deck fourteen, they found not only Tuvok, but also Mike Ayala and Kes waiting for them.

Tuvok wasted no time starting his explanation. "Earlier this morning, the Doctor provided me with updated specifications about the virus that I used to refine the sensor sweep once more. The results were… unexpected." He handed her a padd. "As you will see, the sensors found a significant number of instances of the virus throughout the ship. Closer investigation revealed that each of these instances represents an affected crew member."

"Thirty-six?" Janeway exclaimed in astonishment, having quickly scrolled through the data on the padd. "Why didn't the earlier sweeps pick this up?"

"I've since scanned each individual, and they all carry the same inert form of the virus that was first discovered in Neelix," Kes explained. "And what's more, their virus count is significantly lower than in the other patients, or Neelix for that matter. The concentration was simply too low to come up on scanners before."

"I can't say that I find that very reassuring," Janeway commented, handing the padd back. "Once this is all over, I want engineering working on a way to significantly upgrade the internal sensors."

"That would indeed be advisable," Tuvok agreed.

"So," the captain looked around the narrow corridor. "Why did you ask us to meet down here?"

"In addition to exposing the affected crew members, the latest scan also revealed a significant virus concentration in this room." The security chief pointed at an unmarked door straight ahead.

Janeway searched her brain but could not remember what this particular room was used for. It was adjacent to the area containing stasis chambers for all of the crew, but as far as she knew, all of the supervision systems were located inside that area.

Chakotay saved her from having to ask the obvious question. "I assigned this room to Neelix a few weeks ago," the first officer frowned. "He requested some long-term storage space, saying that he'd brought something back from a planet that wouldn't fit into his quarters."

Everyone looked at Kes, but the Ocampa shrugged her shoulders. "I can't recall him buying anything big anywhere," she mused. "But… He has been somewhat secretive lately. When I asked him about it, he said he was preparing a surprise."

"Speculation will get us nowhere," Janeway decided. "Let's go in and find out."

Tuvok and Ayala pulled out their phasers while Janeway motioned for Kes to stay a few steps behind. Since the door did not yield at their approach, Tuvok keyed in his security override and the panel slid aside, revealing only darkness beyond.

"Computer, activate the lights on deck fourteen, section twenty-three alpha," Chakotay commanded.

Blueish illumination switched on, gradually gaining in intensity.

"What's this?" Janeway asked, stepping forward and looking around in astonishment just as the security officers lowered their phasers. "Another hydroponics bay?"

The room was filled from one end to the other with makeshift flowerbeds looking very similar to the equipment Kes had used in cargo bay two. Irrigation pipes ran overhead, and a panel in the nearest wall showed that a timer program was active for both water and light activation. Every bed contained a number of healthy-looking plants with dark orange leaves.

Kes looked mystified. "Captain, I didn't set this up."

"I believe you," Janeway reassured the young woman. "But it appears that Neelix did. Are you familiar with what he's growing here?"

The Ocampa advanced into the room and looked closely at one of the plants. After inspecting the undersides of the leaves, she gently pulled and revealed a thick, elongated tuber. If not for the bright red color, it could have passed for a Terran carrot. "A keeva root!" she exclaimed.

By now, Tuvok had exchanged his phaser for a tricorder and was intently scanning the contents of the room. "Captain, it appears that all of these plants carry the virus in large quantities."

"Kes," the captain asked, a note of urgency creeping into her voice. "Is it possible that Neelix used these roots in his cooking?"

The woman turned, still holding the root. "I think so, yes. You see, he brought several back a few weeks ago and said he'd gotten them cheap in a trade. According to him, they have the same nutritional value as leola root."

At the mention of Neelix' favorite cooking ingredient, Chakotay wrinkled his nose.

Kes continued. "I know most of you don't say anything, but Neelix is well aware that many of the crew don't enjoy the taste of leola. I think he was hoping that keeva root would be more to your liking." She turned, once again taking in the impressive facility. "I had no idea that he'd already started cultivating it though. Why didn't he come to hydroponics?"

Janeway squeezed her arm. "As you said before, he wanted it to be a surprise. If I had to guess, I'd say he probably experimented with a few recipes already, and that's how the virus got around. But we'll let him explain himself."

Chakotay picked up a stray box and pulled out several roots. Then he handed the box to Kes. "Take these to the Doctor. Maybe now that we've identified the source of the virus, he can use these to create an antidote."

"Yes, Commander." Kes took the box and hurried to the door but turned again just before stepping through. "Captain, I'm sorry. I should have insisted that he tell me about his secret."

"That's something we need to discuss with Mister Neelix, but you're not at fault, Kes," Janeway assured her.

With another earnest nod, the young woman left.

"Seal off this room," Janeway told Tuvok. "Make sure nothing goes in or out. And as soon as the Doctor gives the all-clear, space everything."

She could have sworn she saw a satisfied glint in the Vulcan's eyes as he solemnly acknowledged her order.

-==/\==-

_**Epilogue: Thirty-four hours later** _

 

By the time the captain and first officer arrived in the mess hall, the party was in full swing. As usual, the buffet was overflowing with delicacies, but for once all of them were recognizable as Alpha and Beta Quadrant favorites from all of the crew's home planets.

 

"I think it was a great idea to allow unlimited use of the replicator for today," Chakotay commented as he loaded his plate with hasperat and uttaberry crepe, and even took a spoonful of the tube grubs that someone had secretly added to the menu.

 

"Let's just say that I recently discovered some illegal gambling activities aboard. The jackpot was well-filled with replicator rations." Kathryn looked around and caught Tom Paris' eye across the room, lifting her glass in a toast. The pilot bowed his head and grinned, acknowledging his part in making the festivities possible.

 

"Oh?" Chakotay asked around a mouthful of food, oblivious to the silent exchange behind his back. "Anything I need to know about?"

 

Kathryn picked up a plate and chose helpings of rokeg blood pie, pok tar, and a slice of vegetable pizza. "I'll tell you later," she promised.

 

He looked at her food choices and grimaced. "Your stomach must be lined with tritanium alloy."

 

She took a bite of pok tar and smiled. "Being close friends with a Vulcan does that to people's physiology."

 

"Then so should being close friends with a Klingon, yet I've never been able to stomach blood pie."

 

"So you tried it? Is that why you became a vegetarian?"

 

He leaned closer, his mouth centimeters from her ear. "That, my love, is a story for another day."

 

His breath tickled her skin and she shivered pleasantly. Before she could reply though, the sound of a glass being rang with a spoon broke the general chatter.

 

"Everyone," Harry Kim announced, "In honor of today's festivities, we have a special guest among us." He turned to indicate an as yet vacant space near the viewports that had been roped off. "B'Elanna, would you do the honors?"

 

"Of course." The half-Klingon chief engineer bent down.

 

From her position, Kathryn couldn't see what was on the floor, but when the Doctor suddenly appeared, she guessed that it must be a portable holoemitter that had been reconfigured to project the EMH's program.

 

"Well, hello," the hologram was saying, looking around with interest. "So, this is the famous mess hall. Very cozy indeed."

 

The whole room broke into applause, which the Doctor accepted with his usual air of casual superiority. But when Neelix ran up and hugged him tightly, even the hologram's countenance slipped.

 

"That's… I mean… Mister Neelix, I understand that you're happy, but there's got to be a less embarrassing way of showing it."

 

Everyone laughed.

 

Kathryn felt Chakotay's arm touch hers. "Should we rescue him?"

 

She looked up at him, a reply on the tip of her tongue, but the words vanished when she looked into his handsome, smiling face. The past few days had been heart-rending in more ways than one, and he'd been her steadfast anchor all throughout. Tonight, her heart was overflowing with joy that all of _Voyager_ 's crew members were once again healthy and happy, and tomorrow they would continue their journey for the Alpha Quadrant.

 

There was only one thing that could make this night even more special than it already was.

 

"Yes," she said, smiling sweetly. And then she kissed him.

 

As kisses went, this one was far from their best, both of them awkwardly balancing plates and silverware. And yet Kathryn felt that none of their other kisses had been as satisfactory, or as meaningful.

 

They only stopped when the catcalls reached a deafening level. Kathryn felt herself blush furiously, and Chakotay wore a silly grin that almost made her cringe.

 

"About time!" Paris shouted, and most of the crew clapped in agreement.

 

"That's enough!" she laughed, feeling light and free, and deliriously happy.

 

It took another couple of minutes for the commotion to die down, but then she and Chakotay could safely return to enjoying their food, catching only the occasional curious but delighted glance.

 

"If you have any more surprises planned for tonight, would you mind letting me in on your secret beforehand?" he asked, still grinning.

 

She leaned in close, her cheek actually brushing his as she whispered in his ear.

 

This time, it was his turn to blush, and she knew that the rest of the night would be just as memorable as the party.

 

-==/ The End. \==-

 

**Author's Note:**

> This round's prompt called for a quarantine situation. As an additional sabotage, I was not allowed to use the words travel, celebrate, infect, control, and grave (or any variations thereof). I thought avoiding "infect" would be the hardest, but ultimately it was "celebrate" that gave me the most trouble... And finally, for bonus points, I included one scene in each of the other quadrants (Alpha, Beta, Gamma).


End file.
